Baby merchants: 32 pregnant teenagers arrested in Abia baby factory

Thirty-two pregnant teenagers at various stages of their pregnancies have been arrested in Umuzue community in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).

They were arrested together with the owner of the home, Mrs Nnenna Mba and two male workers on April 2, 2013 following a tip-off. The girls, whose ages range between 10 and 20 were believed to have run to the home after getting pregnant without the knowledge of their parents or were impregnated at the home by visiting males employed by the proprietor of the home.

Speaking to Daily Sun at the office of the NSCDC, the Commandant, Mr Ben E. Dikuro said that his men stormed the home and arrested the teenage girls and the proprietor on Tuesday.

“We gathered from a tip-off that girls who get pregnant are lured to the home with rosy promises of compensation when they deliver. Also young girls who needed money are also convinced to get pregnant and deliver the child and be paid some amount of money.

The young girls are also allowed to sleep with some of the men they brought to the home. Anyone who delivers a girl is paid N80,000 and the child is sold by the owner of the home for N400,000. But if a girl delivered a boy, she was paid N100,000.

While the boy would be sold to those that need them for N450,000. “Our investigation revealed that she has been operating the home since 2009 but was able to register it in 2012. The aim of the registration was to run the outlet as a home for the less privileged, but she was hiding under that cover to perpetrate atrocities. All the girls we caught there are at various stages of pregnancy.

We have gone to the Ministry of Women Affairs and discovered that her registration is different from what she is doing.” The Public Relations Officer of NSCDC, Mr Victor Ogbonna advised parents to take good care of their female children just like the males.

“You can imagine, this type of girls that should be responsible to their parents being lured into the business of baby making just for money.

The cause of all these is poverty and lack of orientation. You see children going into illegalities and evil to survive. The parents of these girls should know that as the boys are important, so are the girls and should be able to give them attention. My advice to the young girls is that they should keep away from bad friends.

It is all about societal influence. Everybody wants to make it big , not minding how it is made. Almost all of them are pregnant, can’t you see?” the PRO said. The proprietor of the home, Mrs. Mba, who spoke to Daily Sun argued that she was not doing any illegal thing.

She said her ordeal was the handiwork of her enemies who were not happy that she was running a legal outfit. “I registered this home with Ministry of Women Affairs in December 2012, the Women Affairs came and inspected the place and certified it fit. The area we are attending to the girls is the social aspect of our job.

I have never sold any baby since we started. Many of them were conscious before coming to us, they were not hoodwinked into coming and they didn’t sign any document for us as agreement.

If any of them delivers and they want to give out their child, it will be a matter between them and the authorities that are in charge of adoption. We only act as intermediaries.

They are all conscious. I did not force them, I am a qualified nurse.”

[Ths Sun]